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Assemblymemver Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) is renewing his effort to get legislation passed into law that would make California a sanctuary state for marijuana.

The renewed effort comes after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he’s rescinding the Obama-era Cole Memo which gave some protection to state-authorized cannabis outlets. Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer’s proposal, Assembly Bill 1578, was approved by the state’s Assembly in June by a vote of 41 to 33. Later that month it was approved by a Senate committee 5 to 2, but has since stalled.

“The impacts of this ill-conceived and poorly executed war are still being felt by communities of color across the state,” Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer said in a statement. “The last time California supported the federal government’s efforts, families were torn apart and critical state resources were used to incarcerate more black and brown people than ever before in the history of our state.”

If passed into law, Assembly Bill 1578 would prohibit state and local agencies from using “money, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to assist a federal agency to investigate, detain, detect, report, or arrest a person for commercial or noncommercial marijuana or medical cannabis activity that is authorized by law in the State of California”, unless there is a court order signed by a judge. It would also prevent them from responding to a request “made by a federal agency for personal information about an individual who is authorized to possess, cultivate, transport, manufacture, sell, or possess for sale marijuana or marijuana products or medical cannabis or medical cannabis products, if that request is made for the purpose of investigating or enforcing federal marijuana law.”

In addition, State and local agencies would not be allowed to “Provide information about a person who has applied for or received a license to engage in commercial marijuana or commercial medical cannabis activity pursuant to MCRSA or AUMA”, or “Transfer an individual to federal law enforcement authorities for purposes of marijuana enforcement or detain an individual at the request of federal law enforcement for conduct that is legal under state law.”

The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts offered no guarantees on Monday that he would take a hands-off approach to legalized pot, injecting a new layer of uncertainty and confusion into the commercial marijuana industry.

At an event over the weekend, Kansas State Representative Steve Alford (R) defended the continuation of marijuana prohibition by reverting to the kind of overtly racist rhetoric originally deployed by Henry Anslinger when this failed policy was first implemented.

It is important to remember: Marijuana prohibition perpetuates institutional racism and is itself being perpetuated by racists.

“What you really need to do is go back in the ’30s, when they outlawed all types of drugs in Kansas (and) across the United States,” Kansas Rep. Steve Alford said. “What was the reason why they did that? One of the reasons why, I hate to say it, was that the African Americans, they were basically users and they basically responded the worst off to those drugs just because of their character makeup, their genetics and that.”

Help us fight back against this unacceptable and disgusting ideology. Click HERE to send your Senators a message in support of the Marijuana Justice Act, which would deschedule marijuana and begin to dial back the devastating impact our nation’s war on marijuana has had on communities across the country.

Below is a message that I received out of Maine today: The second half of the 128th Maine Legislature begins this week. Lawmakers will revisit the bill put forward by the MLI committee and attempt to...

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

A Pew poll found that Americans support legalizing marijuana, 61% – 37%.

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) says he told Sessions in a phone call that he will be blocking all Justice Department nominations over the Trump administration’s marijuana policy change. The two are set to meet this week. The nomination block threat stands to leave several key posts unfilled for the foreseeable future.

A federal judge scheduled oral arguments in a lawsuit against marijuana’s Schedule I status for February 14.

President Trump said that countries with “harsh” drug policies see “less difficulty,” adding: “We are going to be working on that very, very hard this year, and I think we’re going to make a big dent into the drug problem.” He also tweeted that he spoke with Cabinet and military officials about “the ever increasing Drug and Opioid Problem.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, criticized Sessions’s anti-marijuana move and said that cannabis could become a campaign issue in 2018.

New York regulators say they will continue the state’s medical cannabis program in light of federal changes. Separately, lawmakers filed a bill to allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for any condition.

Maine lawmakers will hold a hearing on marijuana legalization implementation legislation on Tuesday.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rattled his saber of prohibition by threatening more federal marijuana prosecutions, reversing one of the few remaining policy holdovers from the Obama administration, stoking a firestorm of support for a variety of federal reforms. The famous “Cole Memo” was issued after Colorado and Washington legalized adult use of marijuana, when […]

According to a new Pew Research Center (PRC) survey, more than six in 10 American voters support legalizing marijuana.

The survey, conducted in October and released today, finds that support for legalization has risen 4% from last year (57%), and has nearly doubled since 2000 (31%).

“As in the past, there are wide generational and partisan differences in views of marijuana legalization”, says Abigail Geiger from PRC . “Majorities of Millennials (70%), Gen Xers (66%) and Baby Boomers (56%) say the use of marijuana should be legal. Only among the Silent Generation does a greater share oppose (58%) than favor (35%) marijuana legalization.”

According to the poll, nearly seven in 10 Democrats say marijuana use should be legal, as do 65% of independents. By contrast, 43% of Republicans favor marijuana legalization, while 55% are opposed. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, those younger than 40 favor legalizing marijuana use, 62% to 38%. Republicans ages 40 to 64 are divided (48% say it should be legal, 49% illegal), while those 65 and older oppose marijuana legalization by more than two-to-one (67% to 30%).

The poll comes just a day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he’s rescinding the Obama-era Cole Memo which directs federal law enforcement to respect states’ marijuana legalization laws.

Long-term cannabis reform activists Chris Conrad and wife Mikki Norris were beaming as they made the first documented legal purchase of marijuana in California for non-medical personal adult use and paid its first recorded cannabis excise tax in Berkeley, Jan 1, 2018. “What we’re getting are three Jack Herer joints in honor of our friend […]

Following yesterday’s announcement by the DOJ that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had rescinded the Cole Memo, an Obama-era memorandum issued by Attorney General James Cole in 2013, federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly denounced the decision.

In addition to taking to the floor of the Senate to express his frustrations, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) continued to vent on Twitter. He had this to say:

“This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation. With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states.”

Sharing some of the same frustrations as her counterpart in the Senate, Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) shared the following in a email to supporters:

“Sessions’ actions to protect the bottom lines of the for-profit private prison industry, and Big Pharma whose opioids and drugs flourish in part due to the marijuana prohibition, while trampling on states’ rights and turning everyday Americans into criminals, is the latest injustice that the Attorney General has suffered on the American people.”

Being the cosponsor of pending legislation, that if passed by Congress would stop AG Sessions in his tracks, Representative Gabbard also took a minute to encourage support for her bill, HR 1227:

“I am calling on every member of Congress to take up the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances.”

With prominent Democrats and Republicans promising a fight and threatening to derail DOJ nominations, and thousands of calls and emails from activists asking lawmakers to reject Mr. Sessions’ misguided plan, it appears that political courage comes in many forms.